Kathleen Carroll Exiting as Head of AP News Operations

Kathleen Carroll, senior VP and executive editor of the Associated Press, will be exiting at the end of the year, the global news outlet said Wednesday.

Carroll has led the news operation for the past 14 years and says she will be taking a break for some family time and "sleeping in on weekdays for a while." She came to AP from Knight Ridder where she was Washington bureau chief as well as chief of the international bureaus.

During her tenure, AP has won five Pulitzers and a shelf-full of George Polk and Overseas Press Club awards. “If AP were a sports team, we would be retiring Kathleen's number,” said AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt in announcing the exit.

Carroll is vice-chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

No replacement has been named, but the search is on, starting internally, says AP.